An Annotated History of Toolbox Interactive for New Employees!
by GeorgiaBoy223
Summary: A history of the critically acclaimed video-game company Toolbox Interactive! Based on "Game Dev Tycoon" by Greenheart Games.
1. Welcome to Toolbox Interactive!

"An Annotated History of Toolbox Interactive for New Employees!"

By GeorgiaBoy223

Disclaimer: "Game Dev Tycoon" is owned by Greenheart Games. "Toolbox Interactive" is a fan-created company in "Game Dev Tycoon." "Jacob Hughes" is a fan-created character in "Game Dev Tycoon."

Further Disclaimers: "Video Killed the Radio Star" is owned by The Buggles. I do not own the cover art. All companies named in this fic, whether from "Game Dev Tycoon" or created for this fic, are fictional. Any similarities in name or purpose to any real-life companies are intended for parody or are otherwise unintentional.

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><p><strong>WELCOME TO TOOLBOX INTERACTIVE!<strong>

Hello, new employee! We at Toolbox Interactive, Inc., are proud to welcome you to our growing family, from our main office in Atlanta to our original subsidiaries in Vancouver, Hong Kong, Austin, and Copenhagen, to our newly acquired assets in Montreal and Kyoto!

You are now part of a company that is worth more than ten billion dollars in revenue on average per year, and has more than thirty years of best-selling and critically-acclaimed experience in video game development! Starting in our founder and CEO Jacob Hughes' garage back in 1983, to our current corporate headquarters in Green Hearts Technology Park and facilities across the globe, Toolbox Interactive has been on the forefront of providing consumers with high-quality games and gaming consoles with an emphasis on putting gamers first!

Before we get started on orientation however, we encourage all our new family members to take some time learning about our company's expansive history, from Mr. Hughes' original dream to our plans for the future! Mr. Hughes has requested that we include Toolbox Interactive's less distinguished moments in gaming history as a reminder that even greatness experiences road bumps every once in a while; in his own paraphrased words, "Those whom forget the past are doomed to repeat it."

So take a load off, kick up your feet (figuratively, not literally), and start learning!


	2. The End of an Era

**CHAPTER 1**

**THE EARLY YEARS**

**PART 1**

**THE END OF AN ERA**

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><p>Before we begin with the story of Toolbox Interactive's early years, we should first discuss the background of our company's rise to fame.<p>

The 1980s are commonly considered by video game historians to be both the Golden Age and the Dark Age of video games. It was the decade in which video games first truly entered the public consciousness; while the medium had been in existence since the 1950s, it was during the eighties that video games became commonplace in many households in North America, Europe, and Japan. Due to the infamous North American Video Game Crash of 1983, however, it was also the decade that video games came the closest to being erased from the public consciousness, doomed to be another fad that ended as quickly as it had begun.

At the beginning of the decade, the Nevarri 1000 console, made by Nevarri Technologies Company, was the most popular of a variety of consoles available to consumers. In addition to the 1000, there was also the Bailey AstroComp by Bailey Computer Industries, the MagnumBox Ulysses II by MagnumBox Televisions, and the ColourVision by ColourCo Toys Ltd., as well as a small number of other consoles that cannot be mentioned due to the complexity of attaining permission to use their names in a corporate history work. These consoles are collectively referred to as the second generation of video game consoles, having begun in 1976 with the release of the 1000 itself. The large variety of consoles was a contributing factor to the '83 Crash, but more on that in a minute.

Contrary to popular belief, the Nevarri 1000 was not the first video game console ever made; that distinction belongs to the original MagnumBox Ulysses, which was first released in 1972 and discontinued in 1976. As a fun fact, the Ulysses prototype was given the name "Zeus" by its programmers, but this was thought to be "too egotistical" by MagnumBox executives.

By the beginning of the '80s, the Nevarri 1000 had sold more than five million units; its popularity continued to climb as ports of popular arcade titles such as _Alien Invasion!_ and _Air_ _Ace _were released to both critical and financial success. By the time of the '83 Crash, sales had doubled, and more than ten million units had been sold in the Americas and Western Europe alone. While other consoles of the period did not have anything close to the popularity of the 1000 (the second best-selling console, the ColourVision, sold only four million units across its entire production history), many of the production companies emulated Nevarri's tactics, obtaining the licenses to as many arcade titles as they could, both popular and relatively unknown, in addition to creating several original titles, all of varying quality.

By the beginning of 1982, however, the industry began to show signs of weakening. The large number of consoles on the market, including many clones of more popular consoles, and their equally large individual game libraries, stretched consumer interest thin. As a result, sales of both consoles and games started to decline, beginning with a surprisingly lackluster sales period during the 1981 Christmas season and gradually worsening throughout 1982. Making the situation worse was the rapidly increasing presence of games that were of mediocre or worse quality; console makers were pressuring their in-house development teams and third party developers under contract to make more and more games in less and less time, desperate to gain a sales advantage over competitors.

There were other factors that contributed to the downturn in console gaming in North America. Personal computers such as the American Automated Machine (AAM) Corporation's XYZ Computer and Grapple Inc.'s Model III were becoming less expensive, moving their status as luxury items that only businesspeople would want to own to household brands that most families could afford. Manufacturers cited the versatility of home computers in their advertisements, successfully arguing to consumers that it was pointless to buy a video game console just to play games when a computer could do that and much more.

Nowhere was the superiority of computers over consoles during this period more evident than when Govodore International released its Govodore 64 computer in August 1982. The Govodore 64 was one of the most powerful low-end computers sold at the time, and its advanced capabilities helped it outsell the competition, notably Grapple's Model III and AAM's XYZ Computer. It also quickly outsold the Nevarri 1000 during the Fall 1982 sales period by a margin of three Govodore 64s sold for every one Nevarri 1000. This trend continued after the Crash began; by the end of 1983, Govodore was selling eight computers for every Nevarri console sold.

The Govodore 64 would eventually become one of the most prolific computers in history; for gamers, the G64 also had some of the most influential computer games of the '80s released on it. Mr. Hughes himself has repeatedly stated that the Govodore 64 was one of his most favorite platforms to develop for – and it's not hard to see why, considering most of our company's biggest early successes were released on the G64!

The actions of Nevarri Technologies' CEO and senior officials didn't help matters. After the 1000's considerable rise in popularity, the board of directors made a controversial decision to place a wage ceiling on its in-house programmers. While not the worst decision a company's senior officers can make, the wage ceiling was exacerbated by the fact that Nevarri was already underpaying its progammers and denying them royalties on successful titles. Many of these programmers were rightfully angered by this decision, and met with the board of directors, asking that the wage ceiling be removed, their salaries increased, and to receive recognition for their efforts by having credits included in their games, as workers in film, television, and music did.

Nevarri's CEO, according to some of the programmers, laughed them off and told them that "anyone can make a video game". A small group of the programmers, seeing that their negotiations were getting them nowhere, quit early in the summer of 1979. Nevarri's board of directors did not yet worry, however – the 1000 was still doing well and its more well-publicized games were selling many copies. This would not last, however.

The most immediate consequence of Nevarri's actions occurred in early October of 1979, when the programmers that left the company, along with some figures from other entertainment industries, formed Active Visionaries, Inc., becoming the first third-party video game publishing company. Active Visionaries began publishing a variety of games for both computers and consoles – including the Nevarri 1000.

Nevarri tried to block Active Visionaries from releasing titles on the 1000, but lost a lawsuit regarding the issue in 1981. The court ruled in favor of Active Visionaries, legitimizing third-party video game development for consoles. While this ruling had the benefit of being one of the building blocks of the modern-day video game industry, this also had the unfortunate side effect of being partially responsible for the glut of low-quality video game releases in 1981 and 1982, severely damaging gaming's reputation as dozens of short-lived startups tried to cash in on the growing industry.

The straw that broke the camel's back, as the saying goes, was the well-known financial and critical failures of two high-profile Nevarri 1000 releases in late 1982: the port of arcade sensation _Dot-Guy_ and the infamous video game adaptation of the blockbuster movie _AL: The Alien Lifeform_. Nevarri produced fifteen million copies of the _Dot-Guy_ port and five million of _AL_, anticipating that most consumers who owned a 1000 at the time (approximately twelve million) would buy the games, and that demand for them would also increase the number of 1000s sold. In addition, Nevarri was planning to coincide the release of _Dot-Guy_ and _AL_ with the release of their new console, the Nevarri 2000; in addition to having improved hardware, the 2000 was also widely advertised as being backwards compatible with most major 1000 games – this, naturally, included _Dot-Guy_ and _AL_. Consumer anticipation was high as Nevarri produced extensive and boisterous ad campaigns for the games; several of these ads proudly proclaimed that "a new era for gaming is here". Many retailers began reserving high quantities of the games, expecting a ripe Christmas sales period.

Finally, the games were released in early November 1982. The reason for the pre-Christmas season sale was because Nevarri believed that critical review and word of mouth would cause demand for the games to skyrocket in time for the Christmas season. Initially, events progressed as Nevarri's executives expected, with both games selling more than a million copies each on launch day. Within a week, the _Dot-Guy_ port sold more than four million total copies and _AL_ sold more than one million and five hundred thousand total copies. The Nevarri 1000 also sold more than five hundred thousand units, and the 2000 sold roughly the same number.

Everything came to a quick end, though, when both critical review and consumer feedback on both games became widespread. Critics and gamers alike derided both games: _Dot-Guy_ was stated to share very little with its arcade roots, and that _AL_ was the worst game they had ever played. In _Dot-Guy_'s case, this was because the aging hardware on the 1000 prohibited programmers from fully integrating the complete arcade experience into the game; in _AL_'s case, Nevarri gave its programmers and designers only six weeks to work on the game, leaving it with many game-breaking bugs and rather poor gameplay. Additionally, both games were reported by many gamers to be completely incompatible with the Nevarri 2000, discrediting one important selling point.

The fallout was severe. While _Dot-Guy_ continued to sell well for a short time, eventually becoming the best-selling Nevarri 1000 game of all time with approximately seven million copies sold, by the end of the 1982 Christmas season, consumer interest had fallen severely as more and gamers made it clear that the port was a major disappointment; the game also sold far below Nevarri's expectations, leaving almost eight million copies unsold. It was worse with _AL_; whereas _Dot-Guy_ was capable of being entertaining for a short time, _AL_ was derided as "completely unplayable" by many critics and gamers. The movie tie-in didn't sell well during the Christmas season; the game ultimately sold only two million copies over its short-lived distribution period. The financial failure of _AL_ was worsened by the extremely high production cost of the game, including the high cost of the game's license; Nevarri ultimately lost almost one hundred million dollars on _AL_.

The most tragic part of the whole debacle was arguably the failure of the Nevarri 2000. While the 2000 was in fact incapable of playing _Dot-Guy_ and _AL_, this wasn't a fault of its hardware but was due to the subpar programming of both games; the console was able to play the other 1000 games it was compatible with flawlessly. Many games that were later released for it were praised by both critics and gamers, including a surprisingly good port of _Dot-Girl_; unfortunately, most of these games were financial failures. The Nevarri 2000 struggled to sell, but due to the Crash, it failed to sell any more than one million and five hundred thousand units by the time it was quietly pulled from distribution in the spring of 1984.

Thus began the North American Video Game Crash of 1983, spreading throughout the entire console game market on the continent. Many American and Canadian consumers were now wary of spending money on products that could be faulty or unworkable, leaving many retailers with a surplus of unsold consoles and game cartridges. These retailers then attempted to return the consoles and games to publishers, only to learn that they couldn't take back all of the products or financially reimburse the retailers. Several games and consoles then saw their prices sharply reduced; games that originally retailed for thirty-five or forty dollars were placed in discount bins for as little as five.

Many video game companies either went bankrupt or withdrew from the industry entirely. Among the companies that were forced to close their doors were Bailey Computer Industries and Americana Games. Companies such as MagnumBox Televisions and ColourCo Toys, on the other hand, did not stake too much of their fortunes on video games and were able to leave the industry relatively unscathed; today, MagnumBox is a subsidiary of Philippe Electronics Corporation and retains its brand name on several television models sold in America and Canada, and ColourCo Toys is still doing well as a manufacturer of children's toys, with strong customer bases in its native U.K. and Western Europe. Active Visionaries survived the Crash because it did not focus on making games exclusively for consoles and had a strong customer base for its PC games; it would go on to be one of the most powerful gaming companies in the world.

Nevarri Technologies, meanwhile, would struggle for years to stay in business. It would continue to sell its 1000 console and what few games that were developed for it for a short time, until Ninvento released the Tiger Entertainment System (commonly abbreviated as "TES") to Western markets in 1985. After encountering some difficulty with sales due to lingering doubts from the Crash, the TES exploded in popularity in late 1986, leaving the few remaining consoles sold in North America in the dust, including the 1000. With its revenue almost nonexistent, Nevarri quietly removed the 1000 from circulation in October 1987 and subsequently declared bankruptcy, bringing a sad end to an era of gaming. Today, the Nevarri brand name is owned by InfroGames Entertainment.

Thus is the history of the infamous North American Video Game Crash of 1983, which almost brought an end to console gaming. It was during this time that, despite all odds, Jacob Hughes founded Toolbox Interactive, Inc., and turned it into a major player in the video game industry.

Please proceed to Chapter 1, Part 2: "Video Killed the Radio Star".

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><p>Author's Note: To those of you who have read the introduction chapter of this story, I am sorry for the long wait. I was finishing work on my first fanfic, and have been busy with work and college in the meantime. I've also made some changes to the introduction chapter; I've changed the location of Toolbox Interactive's corporate headquarters from Richmond to Atlanta, added Austin, Texas, as the location of a subsidiary, and I've upped the company's revenue considerably, to better reflect a video game company that's been very successful.<p>

Also, most of this chapter was adapted from various articles on Wikipedia. Here are the articles:

wiki/North_American_video_game_crash_of_1983

wiki/E.T._the_Extra-Terrestrial_(video_game)

wiki/Atari_2600

wiki/Pac-Man_(Atari_2600)

wiki/Activision


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